I know this is a late post on the topic of monks in the unearthed arcana, however I think a simple change to make monks more appealing to play is give them the same hot dice as the barbarian d12. This solves the health issue and removes monks from being stuck as skirmishers, which there is an overabundance of in the game. A d12 would solve the other major issue of monks dying quickly upon running out of ki/discipline points. Another thought I had was to slowly remove costs from the monk base abilities as you level up. For instance, at level five you remove the ki cost from step of the wind or patient defense (not flurry of blows as that's too readily abused if you remove it too early).
What do you guys think of these possible small changes to monk (the barbarian being the only class with d12 hit dice feels unfair to me as a whole, especially since their rage gives them so much more for the use in the late game). If anyone can relay this to Wizards designers, I'd like their review of the thoughts if possible.
I play casually so don't know how you all feel about this if you play league, so I'd appreciate your feedbacks as well.
Sorry if this feels rambling, this is my first post here.
This has been brought up before, as well as a d10 like some other martials. It’s not a bad idea but one unlikely for WotC to do for various reasons. Backwards compatibility being one of them. I personally think they are fine with d8.
They did mention in the latest UA video that they are looking to possibly remove or reduce Ki/Discipline points on some features and getting rid of a “double cost” on some features that have both Ki/DP and limited uses per day. It is something they are looking at but we won’t know what they decide until at least UA9 which may be a month or two away.
They did mention that they do monitor some online chatter about the playtest (not sure how much) but the surveys are the best way to get your idea across, especially when the Monk UA and survey comes out.
Honestly, the hit die value doesn't have much influence on HP; particularly if you take the average. You're only getting 1 extra HP/level with a d10 over d8, 2 for a d12. Plus thematically Monks are meant to be more in the "glass cannon" area than something tanky like a Fighter or Barb.
Honestly, to patch Monks and Warlocks a little more for their short rest resource, I'd suggest just having the 1 minute refresh feature gain uses as you level, like Channel Divinity or some of the Fighter features. Early levels generally don't feature long series of encounters, and full casters also have a smaller pool of slots at that level. Would give higher level characters a little more stretch on the features.
Honestly, the hit die value doesn't have much influence on HP; particularly if you take the average. You're only getting 1 extra HP/level with a d10 over d8, 2 for a d12. Plus thematically Monks are meant to be more in the "glass cannon" area than something tanky like a Fighter or Barb.
Honestly, to patch Monks and Warlocks a little more for their short rest resource, I'd suggest just having the 1 minute refresh feature gain uses as you level, like Channel Divinity or some of the Fighter features. Early levels generally don't feature long series of encounters, and full casters also have a smaller pool of slots at that level. Would give higher level characters a little more stretch on the features.
I disagree with the "glass cannon" notion that people apply to the monk. Martial artists aren't pushovers, I feel that the term doesn't really apply to the class fantasy at all
Honestly, the hit die value doesn't have much influence on HP; particularly if you take the average. You're only getting 1 extra HP/level with a d10 over d8, 2 for a d12. Plus thematically Monks are meant to be more in the "glass cannon" area than something tanky like a Fighter or Barb.
Honestly, to patch Monks and Warlocks a little more for their short rest resource, I'd suggest just having the 1 minute refresh feature gain uses as you level, like Channel Divinity or some of the Fighter features. Early levels generally don't feature long series of encounters, and full casters also have a smaller pool of slots at that level. Would give higher level characters a little more stretch on the features.
I disagree with the "glass cannon" notion that people apply to the monk. Martial artists aren't pushovers, I feel that the term doesn't really apply to the class fantasy at all
No class in D&D is truly a "pushover" compared to an ordinary person, but they also are leaning more into martial arts movies than anime for the monk vibe. Tough, yes, but not the "bullets bounce off them" kind of tough. That's why they've got the same Hit Dice as Rogues (who are also glass cannons on the weapon-user front) and use DEX and WIS for AC over armor.
Honestly, the hit die value doesn't have much influence on HP; particularly if you take the average. You're only getting 1 extra HP/level with a d10 over d8, 2 for a d12. Plus thematically Monks are meant to be more in the "glass cannon" area than something tanky like a Fighter or Barb.
Honestly, to patch Monks and Warlocks a little more for their short rest resource, I'd suggest just having the 1 minute refresh feature gain uses as you level, like Channel Divinity or some of the Fighter features. Early levels generally don't feature long series of encounters, and full casters also have a smaller pool of slots at that level. Would give higher level characters a little more stretch on the features.
I disagree with the "glass cannon" notion that people apply to the monk. Martial artists aren't pushovers, I feel that the term doesn't really apply to the class fantasy at all
No class in D&D is truly a "pushover" compared to an ordinary person, but they also are leaning more into martial arts movies than anime for the monk vibe. Tough, yes, but not the "bullets bounce off them" kind of tough. That's why they've got the same Hit Dice as Rogues (who are also glass cannons on the weapon-user front) and use DEX and WIS for AC over armor.
neither rogue nor monk are glass cannon types. Rogues damage is not great. Rogue is the sneaky planner type. Monk is no type, maybe the natural track star (but not the most mobile)
mobility without anything else useful serves no purpose in this game design though.
Instead of HP i would like to see them getting more ASI/Feats. There is a high pressure to improve WIS and DEX and so Monks do not pick feats that augment their character in other ways than combat mechanics.
As I've said before in several places, the pressure on WIS is fairly artificial or mistaken; 14-16 WIS is plenty enough if you prefer to take some feats rather than focus on hard stats. Every Monk aside from Astral and Elements' bread and butter is making straight attack rolls using DEX; Ki DC is either used for rider effects like Stunning Strike or the Open Hand Techniques where you've already got the main thing you want from the turn in and you're trying to get a bonus effect in, or half on save AoE with Sun Soul and Ascendant Dragon, at which point you're pretty much only going to be using them when you've got two or more targets, meaning that even if both save you should be averaging at least as much damage from the AoE as from a normal Attack rotation. Now, you won't be hitting a full 20 AC without help, but 17-18 is still a decent AC, and the Monk has a few options if you're worried about drawing too much aggro on a given turn.
I disagree with the "glass cannon" notion that people apply to the monk. Martial artists aren't pushovers, I feel that the term doesn't really apply to the class fantasy at all
No class in D&D is truly a "pushover" compared to an ordinary person, but they also are leaning more into martial arts movies than anime for the monk vibe. Tough, yes, but not the "bullets bounce off them" kind of tough. That's why they've got the same Hit Dice as Rogues (who are also glass cannons on the weapon-user front) and use DEX and WIS for AC over armor.
Yeah, spend most of your life training in pursuit of physical perfection, and you're about as durable as a criminal that doesn't even fight a lot, or a cleric that spent most of that time praying. Monks in DnD train wrong, apparently.
Instead of HP i would like to see them getting more ASI/Feats. There is a high pressure to improve WIS and DEX and so Monks do not pick feats that augment their character in other ways than combat mechanics.
I doubt that it's going to happen. Because backwards compatibility, because tradition, because inert thinking. To make monks not MAD, remove a part of action economy tax (use your bonus action to just fight regularly) and feat tax, and let them compete with european fantasy classes? Keep dreaming. This will never happen. Better comply with "d4 is decent damage", "15 AC is just fine for a frontliner", "melee combatants don't need HP anyway", and "just have more short rests" crowd.
I disagree with the "glass cannon" notion that people apply to the monk. Martial artists aren't pushovers, I feel that the term doesn't really apply to the class fantasy at all
No class in D&D is truly a "pushover" compared to an ordinary person, but they also are leaning more into martial arts movies than anime for the monk vibe. Tough, yes, but not the "bullets bounce off them" kind of tough. That's why they've got the same Hit Dice as Rogues (who are also glass cannons on the weapon-user front) and use DEX and WIS for AC over armor.
Yeah, spend most of your life training in pursuit of physical perfection, and you're about as durable as a criminal that doesn't even fight a lot, or a cleric that spent most of that time praying. Monks in DnD train wrong, apparently.
The point is that they're going for spirituality and evasion over pure physical power. That's why they're a single tier below Fighters, Paladins, and Rangers, who place more emphasis on the physical.
Yeah, spend most of your life training in pursuit of physical perfection, and you're about as durable as a criminal that doesn't even fight a lot, or a cleric that spent most of that time praying. Monks in DnD train wrong, apparently.
The point is that they're going for spirituality and evasion over pure physical power. That's why they're a single tier below Fighters, Paladins, and Rangers, who place more emphasis on the physical.
Yeah, spirituality in punching people to death. They explicitly train to turn their bodies into weapons. You know, martial arts. Not spiritual arts. Not evasion arts. Martial arts. Just how are you supposed to spiritualize or evade your enemy to win a fight?
It's like saying that paladins aren't supposed to fight, they just pray, parade, and stand guard around temples. And barbarians - like, what kind of armies are there in the tundra, it's a nature survivalist class, it doesn't need frontline fighter capabilities. It's just silly to use fluff to justify objective weakness of class design.
Player characters are the prime combatants among their class. Player wizards don't just study scrolls in towers, they actively fling fireballs. Player clerics don't just pray to gods and study holy books, they're chosen by their deities to channel divine power. Player barbarians don't just hunt deer and make crude pottery, they're mightiest warriors of the clans. And player monks don't just meditate and exercise - they're supposed to be the strongest combatants of their monasteries, the ones that venture out and end up changing the world among with other heroes.
Yeah, spend most of your life training in pursuit of physical perfection, and you're about as durable as a criminal that doesn't even fight a lot, or a cleric that spent most of that time praying. Monks in DnD train wrong, apparently.
The point is that they're going for spirituality and evasion over pure physical power. That's why they're a single tier below Fighters, Paladins, and Rangers, who place more emphasis on the physical.
Yeah, spirituality in punching people to death. They explicitly train to turn their bodies into weapons. You know, martial arts. Not spiritual arts. Not evasion arts. Martial arts. Just how are you supposed to spiritualize or evade your enemy to win a fight?
It's like saying that paladins aren't supposed to fight, they just pray, parade, and stand guard around temples. And barbarians - like, what kind of armies are there in the tundra, it's a nature survivalist class, it doesn't need frontline fighter capabilities. It's just silly to use fluff to justify objective weakness of class design.
Right, and exactly how many martial artists do you see, particularly in the old martial arts movies, with a boxer's physique? There's different kinds of exercise that result in different kinds of musculatures. And the spirituality is reflected in the Ki points for one, which are then used both to enhance physical performance and sometimes for more overtly magical effects.
Look, you've got the Brawler Fighter now if you just want a meathead to pound enemies into the ground barehanded; you don't need to keep nitpicking the Monk because it doesn't fit into your narrow ideal of what a martial arts class should be.
Right, and exactly how many martial artists do you see, particularly in the old martial arts movies, with a boxer's physique? There's different kinds of exercise that result in different kinds of musculatures. And the spirituality is reflected in the Ki points for one, which are then used both to enhance physical performance and sometimes for more overtly magical effects.
Look, you've got the Brawler Fighter now if you just want a meathead to pound enemies into the ground barehanded; you don't need to keep nitpicking the Monk because it doesn't fit into your narrow ideal of what a martial arts class should be.
Um, all of them? Look at Bruce Lee, he's ripped as hell. Lightweight champion boxer material. Just like actual medieval knights, by the way.
Spirituality doesn't exactly enhance as much as it just lets them become an actual fighter... Until they run out of ki and become worse than a regular fighter. Which never needed any ki in the first place.
Brawler fighter is a disfunctional mess in every regard. A platemail-wearing idiot knight (because no finesse on improvised weapons) with a bench or a broom for a weapon. And a d6 punch. All that subclass does is worse than just using regular weapons, and it falls apart even more when you realize that magic weapons exist in this game and no improvised weapon or d8 unarmed strike will ever beat Flametongue or Hazirawn.
It's not "my narrow ideal", I just want monks to measure up against other martial classes, for crying out loud. The disparity is glaring and it's obvious at first glance. Less damage, less health, action economy tax, feat tax, you need to spend a lot of resources just to make the monk work.
Yeah, spend most of your life training in pursuit of physical perfection, and you're about as durable as a criminal that doesn't even fight a lot, or a cleric that spent most of that time praying. Monks in DnD train wrong, apparently.
The point is that they're going for spirituality and evasion over pure physical power. That's why they're a single tier below Fighters, Paladins, and Rangers, who place more emphasis on the physical.
Yeah, spirituality in punching people to death. They explicitly train to turn their bodies into weapons. You know, martial arts. Not spiritual arts. Not evasion arts. Martial arts. Just how are you supposed to spiritualize or evade your enemy to win a fight?
It's like saying that paladins aren't supposed to fight, they just pray, parade, and stand guard around temples. And barbarians - like, what kind of armies are there in the tundra, it's a nature survivalist class, it doesn't need frontline fighter capabilities. It's just silly to use fluff to justify objective weakness of class design.
Right, and exactly how many martial artists do you see, particularly in the old martial arts movies, with a boxer's physique? There's different kinds of exercise that result in different kinds of musculatures. And the spirituality is reflected in the Ki points for one, which are then used both to enhance physical performance and sometimes for more overtly magical effects.
Look, you've got the Brawler Fighter now if you just want a meathead to pound enemies into the ground barehanded; you don't need to keep nitpicking the Monk because it doesn't fit into your narrow ideal of what a martial arts class should be.
I feel like you have the more narrow ideal of what a martial arts class should be. I agree with kamchatmonk, the idea of someone who trains their body to withstand harm to supernatural levels having a d8 feels like a joke.
Yeah, spend most of your life training in pursuit of physical perfection, and you're about as durable as a criminal that doesn't even fight a lot, or a cleric that spent most of that time praying. Monks in DnD train wrong, apparently.
The point is that they're going for spirituality and evasion over pure physical power. That's why they're a single tier below Fighters, Paladins, and Rangers, who place more emphasis on the physical.
Yeah, spirituality in punching people to death. They explicitly train to turn their bodies into weapons. You know, martial arts. Not spiritual arts. Not evasion arts. Martial arts. Just how are you supposed to spiritualize or evade your enemy to win a fight?
It's like saying that paladins aren't supposed to fight, they just pray, parade, and stand guard around temples. And barbarians - like, what kind of armies are there in the tundra, it's a nature survivalist class, it doesn't need frontline fighter capabilities. It's just silly to use fluff to justify objective weakness of class design.
Right, and exactly how many martial artists do you see, particularly in the old martial arts movies, with a boxer's physique? There's different kinds of exercise that result in different kinds of musculatures. And the spirituality is reflected in the Ki points for one, which are then used both to enhance physical performance and sometimes for more overtly magical effects.
Look, you've got the Brawler Fighter now if you just want a meathead to pound enemies into the ground barehanded; you don't need to keep nitpicking the Monk because it doesn't fit into your narrow ideal of what a martial arts class should be.
I feel like you have the more narrow ideal of what a martial arts class should be. I agree with kamchatmonk, the idea of someone who trains their body to withstand harm to supernatural levels having a d8 feels like a joke.
not to take sides (i'm enjoying the back and forth), but having d6 levels on a wizard is pretty amazing when compared to other scribes and scholars. definitely not a joke to normal folk. compared to that, maybe d10/d12 are kinda supernatural.
it's easy to get hung up on the in-game justifications for hp being 'toughness' more than 'quantity of blood' within. monks are tough, quick, and resistant to vices so they should have more hp to reflect that, right? okay, but it's still a game where some classes are set aside mechanically to play a mini-game of watching their red bulb go up and down. monk is not that, normally. when a monk blocks a mace with their elbow that's not a reduced HP loss, that's supposed to be pure evasion.
what's annoying about it all is not that high hp is off the table, it's that so is resistance to mundane damage. so is high AC. technically, always-on dodge is off the table as well just because there's nowhere to go up from there, no way to stack advantage. the easiest fix might be just to bump up to d12 and dust our hands but that doesn't feel right. it's a problem with no obvious solution (that we'd be willing to agree on).
hmm, i said you couldn't stack disadvantage, but there is that one way... what if monk receives a free 2014 Lucky feat with two restrictions: only spend luck points while benefiting from Unarmored Defense feature and with one hand free. PB number of luck points, refresh on long rest as normal.
bundle the free feat with Martial Discipline (level 2) or maybe even as far back as with Slow Fall (level 4).
even later, Perfect Discipline (level 15) also refreshes up to 4 (same as dp) expended luck points and, while i'm dreaming, no longer requires "if you have none remaining"
if monk somehow gains luck points from any other source, then the same armor and empty-hand restrictions continue to apply (unless modified by subclass). new luck points are added to the current pool and the maximum points are increased by that much.
2014 lucky says you spend a luck point to roll an additional die and choose which of the dice to use. if there's already advantage / disadvantage on the d20 Test then that means 3 dice to choose from. that's stacking dodge disadvantage! even if you require this to burn a reaction and a ki point (which i'm not sure is necessary) this could be a potentially very useful tool defensively. unarmored and hand free keeps it a choice and wards off too-easy multiclass dips by martials with shields or 2-handed weapons. not nearly as interesting with UA-1 Lucky which only allows you to spend a point to add advantage or impose disadvantage. thus, not something you can do now in UA-6/7/8. Thoughts?
I think they should take a more active role in their defense rather than just buffing up their hp. Deflect Blow in addition to Deflect Missile.
The problem is that in later levels, the 5e monk is a defensive powerhouse. Between Diamond Soul, Purity of Body, and Evasion, you are extremely hard to kill. Any defensive buff needs to be given early and fade off in the back 10 levels, or some of the amazing later-level features need to come in sooner and gradually ramp up.
And yes, Step of the Wind should just straight-up be free from the get-go. It's wild they still haven't admitted that.
I know this is a late post on the topic of monks in the unearthed arcana, however I think a simple change to make monks more appealing to play is give them the same hot dice as the barbarian d12. This solves the health issue and removes monks from being stuck as skirmishers, which there is an overabundance of in the game. A d12 would solve the other major issue of monks dying quickly upon running out of ki/discipline points. Another thought I had was to slowly remove costs from the monk base abilities as you level up. For instance, at level five you remove the ki cost from step of the wind or patient defense (not flurry of blows as that's too readily abused if you remove it too early).
What do you guys think of these possible small changes to monk (the barbarian being the only class with d12 hit dice feels unfair to me as a whole, especially since their rage gives them so much more for the use in the late game). If anyone can relay this to Wizards designers, I'd like their review of the thoughts if possible.
I play casually so don't know how you all feel about this if you play league, so I'd appreciate your feedbacks as well.
Sorry if this feels rambling, this is my first post here.
This has been brought up before, as well as a d10 like some other martials. It’s not a bad idea but one unlikely for WotC to do for various reasons. Backwards compatibility being one of them. I personally think they are fine with d8.
They did mention in the latest UA video that they are looking to possibly remove or reduce Ki/Discipline points on some features and getting rid of a “double cost” on some features that have both Ki/DP and limited uses per day. It is something they are looking at but we won’t know what they decide until at least UA9 which may be a month or two away.
They did mention that they do monitor some online chatter about the playtest (not sure how much) but the surveys are the best way to get your idea across, especially when the Monk UA and survey comes out.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Honestly, the hit die value doesn't have much influence on HP; particularly if you take the average. You're only getting 1 extra HP/level with a d10 over d8, 2 for a d12. Plus thematically Monks are meant to be more in the "glass cannon" area than something tanky like a Fighter or Barb.
Honestly, to patch Monks and Warlocks a little more for their short rest resource, I'd suggest just having the 1 minute refresh feature gain uses as you level, like Channel Divinity or some of the Fighter features. Early levels generally don't feature long series of encounters, and full casters also have a smaller pool of slots at that level. Would give higher level characters a little more stretch on the features.
I disagree with the "glass cannon" notion that people apply to the monk. Martial artists aren't pushovers, I feel that the term doesn't really apply to the class fantasy at all
No class in D&D is truly a "pushover" compared to an ordinary person, but they also are leaning more into martial arts movies than anime for the monk vibe. Tough, yes, but not the "bullets bounce off them" kind of tough. That's why they've got the same Hit Dice as Rogues (who are also glass cannons on the weapon-user front) and use DEX and WIS for AC over armor.
neither rogue nor monk are glass cannon types. Rogues damage is not great. Rogue is the sneaky planner type. Monk is no type, maybe the natural track star (but not the most mobile)
mobility without anything else useful serves no purpose in this game design though.
Instead of HP i would like to see them getting more ASI/Feats. There is a high pressure to improve WIS and DEX and so Monks do not pick feats that augment their character in other ways than combat mechanics.
As I've said before in several places, the pressure on WIS is fairly artificial or mistaken; 14-16 WIS is plenty enough if you prefer to take some feats rather than focus on hard stats. Every Monk aside from Astral and Elements' bread and butter is making straight attack rolls using DEX; Ki DC is either used for rider effects like Stunning Strike or the Open Hand Techniques where you've already got the main thing you want from the turn in and you're trying to get a bonus effect in, or half on save AoE with Sun Soul and Ascendant Dragon, at which point you're pretty much only going to be using them when you've got two or more targets, meaning that even if both save you should be averaging at least as much damage from the AoE as from a normal Attack rotation. Now, you won't be hitting a full 20 AC without help, but 17-18 is still a decent AC, and the Monk has a few options if you're worried about drawing too much aggro on a given turn.
If that's what you think, you've either been playing the class wrong or you think anything besides a full caster or paladin is bad for damage.
Yeah, spend most of your life training in pursuit of physical perfection, and you're about as durable as a criminal that doesn't even fight a lot, or a cleric that spent most of that time praying. Monks in DnD train wrong, apparently.
I doubt that it's going to happen. Because backwards compatibility, because tradition, because inert thinking. To make monks not MAD, remove a part of action economy tax (use your bonus action to just fight regularly) and feat tax, and let them compete with european fantasy classes? Keep dreaming. This will never happen. Better comply with "d4 is decent damage", "15 AC is just fine for a frontliner", "melee combatants don't need HP anyway", and "just have more short rests" crowd.
The point is that they're going for spirituality and evasion over pure physical power. That's why they're a single tier below Fighters, Paladins, and Rangers, who place more emphasis on the physical.
Yeah, spirituality in punching people to death. They explicitly train to turn their bodies into weapons. You know, martial arts. Not spiritual arts. Not evasion arts. Martial arts. Just how are you supposed to spiritualize or evade your enemy to win a fight?
It's like saying that paladins aren't supposed to fight, they just pray, parade, and stand guard around temples. And barbarians - like, what kind of armies are there in the tundra, it's a nature survivalist class, it doesn't need frontline fighter capabilities. It's just silly to use fluff to justify objective weakness of class design.
Player characters are the prime combatants among their class. Player wizards don't just study scrolls in towers, they actively fling fireballs. Player clerics don't just pray to gods and study holy books, they're chosen by their deities to channel divine power. Player barbarians don't just hunt deer and make crude pottery, they're mightiest warriors of the clans. And player monks don't just meditate and exercise - they're supposed to be the strongest combatants of their monasteries, the ones that venture out and end up changing the world among with other heroes.
Right, and exactly how many martial artists do you see, particularly in the old martial arts movies, with a boxer's physique? There's different kinds of exercise that result in different kinds of musculatures. And the spirituality is reflected in the Ki points for one, which are then used both to enhance physical performance and sometimes for more overtly magical effects.
Look, you've got the Brawler Fighter now if you just want a meathead to pound enemies into the ground barehanded; you don't need to keep nitpicking the Monk because it doesn't fit into your narrow ideal of what a martial arts class should be.
Um, all of them? Look at Bruce Lee, he's ripped as hell. Lightweight champion boxer material. Just like actual medieval knights, by the way.
Spirituality doesn't exactly enhance as much as it just lets them become an actual fighter... Until they run out of ki and become worse than a regular fighter. Which never needed any ki in the first place.
Brawler fighter is a disfunctional mess in every regard. A platemail-wearing idiot knight (because no finesse on improvised weapons) with a bench or a broom for a weapon. And a d6 punch. All that subclass does is worse than just using regular weapons, and it falls apart even more when you realize that magic weapons exist in this game and no improvised weapon or d8 unarmed strike will ever beat Flametongue or Hazirawn.
It's not "my narrow ideal", I just want monks to measure up against other martial classes, for crying out loud. The disparity is glaring and it's obvious at first glance. Less damage, less health, action economy tax, feat tax, you need to spend a lot of resources just to make the monk work.
I feel like you have the more narrow ideal of what a martial arts class should be. I agree with kamchatmonk, the idea of someone who trains their body to withstand harm to supernatural levels having a d8 feels like a joke.
not to take sides (i'm enjoying the back and forth), but having d6 levels on a wizard is pretty amazing when compared to other scribes and scholars. definitely not a joke to normal folk. compared to that, maybe d10/d12 are kinda supernatural.
it's easy to get hung up on the in-game justifications for hp being 'toughness' more than 'quantity of blood' within. monks are tough, quick, and resistant to vices so they should have more hp to reflect that, right? okay, but it's still a game where some classes are set aside mechanically to play a mini-game of watching their red bulb go up and down. monk is not that, normally. when a monk blocks a mace with their elbow that's not a reduced HP loss, that's supposed to be pure evasion.
what's annoying about it all is not that high hp is off the table, it's that so is resistance to mundane damage. so is high AC. technically, always-on dodge is off the table as well just because there's nowhere to go up from there, no way to stack advantage. the easiest fix might be just to bump up to d12 and dust our hands but that doesn't feel right. it's a problem with no obvious solution (that we'd be willing to agree on).
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
hmm, i said you couldn't stack disadvantage, but there is that one way... what if monk receives a free 2014 Lucky feat with two restrictions: only spend luck points while benefiting from Unarmored Defense feature and with one hand free. PB number of luck points, refresh on long rest as normal.
bundle the free feat with Martial Discipline (level 2) or maybe even as far back as with Slow Fall (level 4).
later, Heightened Metabolism (level 7) also refreshes PB*(1/2) (round up) expended luck points.
even later, Perfect Discipline (level 15) also refreshes up to 4 (same as dp) expended luck points and, while i'm dreaming, no longer requires "if you have none remaining"
if monk somehow gains luck points from any other source, then the same armor and empty-hand restrictions continue to apply (unless modified by subclass). new luck points are added to the current pool and the maximum points are increased by that much.
2014 lucky says you spend a luck point to roll an additional die and choose which of the dice to use. if there's already advantage / disadvantage on the d20 Test then that means 3 dice to choose from. that's stacking dodge disadvantage! even if you require this to burn a reaction and a ki point (which i'm not sure is necessary) this could be a potentially very useful tool defensively. unarmored and hand free keeps it a choice and wards off too-easy multiclass dips by martials with shields or 2-handed weapons. not nearly as interesting with UA-1 Lucky which only allows you to spend a point to add advantage or impose disadvantage. thus, not something you can do now in UA-6/7/8. Thoughts?
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
I think they should take a more active role in their defense rather than just buffing up their hp. Deflect Blow in addition to Deflect Missile.
The problem is that in later levels, the 5e monk is a defensive powerhouse. Between Diamond Soul, Purity of Body, and Evasion, you are extremely hard to kill. Any defensive buff needs to be given early and fade off in the back 10 levels, or some of the amazing later-level features need to come in sooner and gradually ramp up.
And yes, Step of the Wind should just straight-up be free from the get-go. It's wild they still haven't admitted that.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm